A/N yeah I know –I suck, I haven't updated along my usual schedule and I'm sorry, I just couldn't find the time.
But now I'm back and as this thing winds down I just want to thank all of you who read and review, you are all awesome! And to JA Ingram, can you send me that email again through PM? I don't know if it's like yahoo or Gmail or what? And I'm not tech savvy sadly. Anyway, this is not the last chapter it's getting close, but there's still some more – at least one after this for certain. As usual if there is anything any of you would like me to include ill consider anything, thanks again and hope you enjoy!
-Still the reception-
The different pockets of guests were finally beginning to mingle, Jackie's school friends were now talking freely with Fez and many of the people she knew through King and the others. The few people Hyde had invited that he'd met through work, were getting along surprisingly well with his Midwestern family as well as a group of semi off-putting east bay punks? But all he cared about was his new wife, he was never more than two feet from Jackie after the vows were said, even when she had attacked Fez and demanded updates on his life.
He was working as a makeup artist now for Broadway and a few high rated off Broadway plays, he was respected and sought after and in new york no one cared that he was…a bit strange. He told them that he had thought he was homesick until he'd returned to point place for a visit. Fez recounted to Jackie, Hyde and Eric his awkward trip to his first American home, the Forman's had been happy to see him but he'd only had one conversation with donna and from what they could infer from his tone, it hadn't gone very well. But what the three found really troubling was the sad look on their goofy friends face when he told them of the cold reception he'd gotten from his 'best friend' Kelso, although Fez wouldn't go into details as it – was a day for happiness not Kelso's – and he honestly would have preferred to forget the whole thing.
In the years to come there would be a fair amount of debate as to the high point of the wedding, and most of them had differing views of what it was.
Kitty of course insisted it was the 'beautiful ceremony', she somehow viewed the out of the ordinary wedding this way and no one felt like being a dick and pointing out that in traditional vows no one swore,
Red however had firmly cast his vote for when chewy nocked Eric into the kiddie pool they had in the yard for some reason?
But in the end they all had to agree that Kick and Fez having a random disco showdown on the dance floor was definitely a contender, you just don't get to see that sort of hilarity up close often in life.
Hyde was watching with a small smile while Jackie and King waltzed across the dance area laughing and totally unconcerned for how peculiar a sight they made, standing next to him was Connor, also with his eyes glued to the very strange but at the same time touchingly beautiful sight.
"They love us" Connor said quietly to Hyde
"Yes they do" Hyde agreed without breaking his view of them.
"It doesn't make any sense that" Connor noted with a smile
"No it does not" Hyde agreed again, how could he argue such truth.
"We should probably not fuck up" Connor noted as though he'd never considered it before that moment.
"That's the working plan" Hyde told him dryly
"Sounds good mate" Connor grinned as his eyes followed King twirling around the patio/dance floor with Jackie,
A thought occurred to Hyde then "I thought you said once that King couldn't sing?" he asked out of the blue, recalling a long past conversation they'd had at grooves.
"She can't" Connor replied absently
This earned him a raised eyebrow from Hyde "dude I heard her singing like two hours ago" he reminded the big man
Finally Connor looked away from King and met Hyde's curious eyes "what the opera stuff?" Connor asked with a skeptical expression,
"Yes Connor 'the opera stuff'" Hyde drawled
"That's just stuff she had to do at that school she went to" he explained absently, resuming his view of the two women who were still dancing around without a care.
"Well it sounded like she can sing to me" Hyde pointed out, also going back to watching the two friends have fun.
"the thing about it is, that when Kings says she can't sing she means she can't sing the way she wants to, she can do that opera crap – which she doesn't like – and she does a fairly good dolly Parton impression, but her voice isn't right for punk – too pretty, so in her mind she can't in fact sing." Connor eventually explained as though it were perfectly obvious.
"Well whatever, jacks loved it so if I forget to tell her make sure she knows I appreciate it ok?" he charged his burly friend with.
"sure mate, passing that on will be my first concern while Kings looks like that, totally going to bring up opera when were alone…and she's wearing a dress…which is not a common occurrence…" Connor trailed off sarcastically
"You've already forgotten what we were talking about haven't you?" Hyde asked dryly
"tryin' to" Connor said with an unabashed nod, then left Hyde to make his way to King, there was only so long Connor was capable of being away from King for, as soon as he left though Eric appeared to take the space he'd just vacated.
"you know I never thought you'd get married before me man, and now that you have I find that I'm so, so, so grateful that I didn't get married, and also while we're on the subject – congratulations, I'm really happy for both of you, it's nice to know that I won't hate dealing with my sister in law on holidays." Eric told him in his usual joking manner, but the undercurrent of truth wasn't lost on Hyde.
"Thanks Forman, it means a lot to me that your future comfort has been concerned" Hyde dead panned.
"Any time brother mine!" Eric said clapping him on the shoulder before leaving to get more punch.
The day was winding down finally, the cake had been cut, the toasts made (fez's was particularly confusing yet touching), the food consumed and the drunkest of the guests ejected by Connor and red, but although Hyde was looking forward to his wedding night at the moment he was trying to figure out who the kid Jackie's friends from school had been discussing? From what he'd over heard this kid was major trouble, and would have already been thrown out of the youth program Jackie and the others worked for if it hadn't been for his diminutive wife?
He approached the only one of Jackie's friends he could remember the name of, a dark haired girl from san Diego Zoila.
"What's the deal with this kid I keep hearing all of you talking about?" he asked without preamble
Zoila looked confused so Hyde clarified "the one you guys call 'Lock'?"
"Ooooh, him? Yeah Sherlock is a rough case, one more mess up and he's going to get booted out of the shelter, but he honestly doesn't care. that kid is the most jaded mistrustful person I've ever seen" Zoila told Hyde with a sad shake of her head, like Jackie she wanted to help the lost children of the world and protect them from the danger and horror out there, but whoever this 'Sherlock' kid was seemed to scare her a bit?
"But Jackie's close with him?" he asked wondering if he should worry about his tiny wife around scary street kids?
"Well sort of, he trusts Jackie as much as he's able to trust anyone at this point. She's so honest that even when she says something he doesn't like he still respects that she doesn't lie to him, it also doesn't hurt that she's the only one of us in the program that speaks 'punk' or that she name dropped King and Rockwall, seems Sherlock is a fan" Zoila laughed
"Why do you call him Sherlock?" Hyde asked curiously, it wasn't the sort of street kid names he'd heard Jackie recount so far.
"The other kids called him that because he wouldn't tell anyone his name, and because even though he's only 14 somehow he's clever enough to have survived on the streets since he was 11, he's smart resourceful and a survivor, but he's hard and angry and cold. Nothing the councilors say gets through to him, if he doesn't die in a brawl a few of us figure he'll end up in prison sooner than later" Zoila told him regretfully
"Sounds like a scary kid" Hyde said with a shake of his shorn head, he felt for the kid even while he worried about Jackie being around dangerous street kids.
"he's the baddest of the bad I've seen out there, but I don't think you need to worry, from what I've seen he almost gives a damn about Jackie and that's a hell of a thing all considered" Zoila assured him.
Hyde made a mental note to mention the kid to Jackie after their short honey moon, something about it made him want to learn more about the kid, but not just then. He had other things on his mind at that moment and none of them involved people besides Jackie, hell, the world could burn and he probably wouldn't notice or care that night.
They waved goodbye to their friends and family before they ran down the street to their new home hand in hand, Hyde slammed the door and threw the bolt while Jackie quickly pulled the blinds, there night could involve a range of movement and they thought it best to take steps to keep their activities private.
"What do you think jacks?" Hyde said softly as he watched her take in the home around her that he'd set up (with copious amounts of help) for them to start their life together in, it was a modest three bedroom home but it was their home, and no one would ever be able to take that away from either of them. The veritable orphans were a family now, and neither could quite get a grasp on how that felt but there was time to learn.
"Were home Steven" she breathed in awe before jumping into his waiting arms.
*explicit scene left up to reader as author sucks at that sort of thing*
Over the next few months Jackie and Hyde settled into their new home and their new life with ease, Jackie went to school, cheered at games and worked for the youth outreach program. Hyde learned that, although she had no plans to leave the program, she had more than a few problems with how they approached the street kids. The biggest one was when she had seen them force a girl who was a runaway to return to her home, there was a good reason she had run away in the first place and it wasn't long before the girl ended up in the hospital after she was sent back there. Jackie's plan was to someday have a way to keep these kids safe from not only the dangers of the streets – but also the dangers that drove them there.
To no one's surprise, when Eric's program ended he moved not only to Berkeley but into Kicks house, sharing the garage apartment with Max. Mr. and Mrs. Forman had returned home not long after the wedding but left strict orders that they be called the moment King went into labor, Kitty Forman would be there to welcome the newest member of the odd family into the world! And red wanted to be there as well, though he was slightly less forceful about the whole thing.
Fez had returned to his new home of NY, but he and Jackie had a standing Sunday morning call, the length of it varied depending on circumstances, but it always occurred.
Hyde and WB were building the newest studio's reputation and although it was a lot of work, Hyde was happy and felt a deep satisfaction at the success it was already achieving. It didn't hurt that his idea to allow local and underground bands to record on a sliding scale had given his studio a lot of street cred, that made bigger bands want to look hip by using Hyde's studio.
It was fall when Jackie and Hyde were woken from where they had fallen asleep on the couch watching TV by a loud urgent banging on their front door. Hyde was groggily making his way to answer it when the heavy oak door flew open?! A harried looking Kick entered and yelled for them to follow him out into the darkness
"What the hell is going on?" Jackie asked rubbing the sleep from her eyes,
"The time is at hand!" Kick yelled frantically
"What the hell are you talking about Kick?" Hyde asked with a yawn.
Kick ran a hand through his blue hair, making it stick up more than it had been, and tried to calm himself enough to make his point "Kings in labor, its go time!" he yelled at them clapping his hands to get them up and moving.
"Oh my God!" Jackie shrieked and dashed to where she'd taken her boots off earlier that evening.
"Hyde make the call!" Kick yelled while he helpfully found their coats and Jackie's bag
"On it!" Hyde shouted from the kitchen where he was already dialing the number "hey red, it's happening" Hyde said quickly and hung up, there was no time to waste and red would know that.
They ran down the street, either not noticing or not caring that they were in pajamas. They weren't the only ones frantic either, when they reached Kicks house they saw what would normally be a humorous scene. Max was standing at the open driver's door of the car with the engine running and yelling towards the front door for them to hurry but be careful! Which he was too nervous to realize made no sense. Connor ran swiftly out the front door carrying a large duffle bag with 'King' spray painted on the side of it, threw it in the trunk then bolted back inside only to appear a few moments later leading a very pale King down the steps towards the car, her breathing was short and labored and she had to stop every few steps to hold onto Connor for support.
Hyde and Jackie had never seen a more distraught look on someone's face then they saw on Connors, King was in great pain and he was powerless to help her, they could see the muscles in his arms tense and strain as he clenched his fists unable to help her.
"Jacks I'm not sure we can handle having kids" Hyde told her wild eyed at the sight of their friend's current state
"If we do I'm making sure Mrs. Forman is never more than two minutes away" Jackie told him looking just as frightened by what they were witnessing.
Pain that could take down King was no small matter, and a situation that could scare Connor and ruffle Max's calm was something to fear. Jackie slipped into the back with King and Connor, each of them holding one of the pained woman's hands, King opened her eyes long enough to smile gratefully at Jackie before the pain coursed through her again with such strength that Jackie could see her swollen stomach contract through her thin shirt, Jackie looked up to Hyde who was crammed into the front with Kick and Max with a wide eyed look – this was real. It was really happening and none of them knew what to expect since the last time any of them had been involved with child birth, it had been their own.
They flew into the hospital admittance with Connor and Max almost carrying King, who was now crying in between the contractions then gasping for breath, granted none of them knew what to expect but still it seemed wrong how much pain she was in? The nurse at the counter didn't look impressed with Kings Appearance, from the dyed hair to the 'fuck racism' t-shirt, and it showed with her attitude towards her.
"you need to fill this form out, and make sure not to lie on the history of drug use section or the baby could suffer and lord knows it's going to have enough problems!" she said judgmentally to Connor when she handed over the paper work.
"There's no history of drug use!" Jackie snapped coldly at the woman, giving her an angry glare.
The nurse gave Jackie a cold pitying look "I've worked here a long time miss, I know junkie trash when I see it" she claimed with a sniff and turned to tidy the papers on her desk. Jackie was about to tell the vile woman a thing or two but Hyde pulled her away.
"later doll, there's more important things right now than educating dumb bitches" he said loud enough for the nurse to hear him, but the look he returned when she turned her offended face to him was enough to shut her up for the time being.
Kings doctor was already at the hospital and met them on their way to the maternity ward; Hyde saw the look of concern that passed over his face when he saw how much pain King was experiencing, before he artfully composed his features into a more comforting look. They put King in a room and only allowed Connor to go with her, but no matter what the staff said, the rest of them seated themselves in the hallway and got ready to wait. Hours passed punctuated by Kings cries and the murmur of Connors voice trying to sooth her, a kind nurse had let them know that part of the problem was that King was having something called 'back labor' and due to how much amniotic fluid she'd lost when her water broke they'd had to give her Pitocin to speed her labor along, which meant that Kings contractions were so close together she couldn't catch her breath before the next one hit her.
Jackie was chewing on her nails and staring into space when she heard footsteps rapidly approaching, she glanced up wearily but jumped to her feet when she saw that it was Eric and his parents trotting towards them.
Kitty grabbed Jackie up into a hug and demanded someone tell her all the details so far, when none of them could offer much helpful information, Kitty bustled off to the nurses' station to wheedle the information she was after out of her fellow nurses. None of them paid much attention until they heard her familiar voice raise to dangerous levels, all of them looked over and saw kitty Forman staring down the rude admitting nurse who now looked scared out of her mind as the term 'speak to the hospital administrator' flowed confidently from her mouth, it wasn't hard to imagine what had happened to get to that point.
To appease the furious Kitty Forman, the hospital staff broke policy and brought the group chairs to sit in while they continued to wait. They had lost track of how many hours they'd been waiting when they heard the loudest scream from King yet, followed shortly by a new high pitched wailing squall. Instantly they all perked up and looked at each other smiling excitedly, they could hear a bustle of activity in the room and were expecting a smiling nurse to come tell them they could see King and their new member soon.
But instead Connor appeared in the doorway being shoved out of it by three nurses, while he screamed "Kingsley!" and tried to stay in the room, Max rushed to him looking terrified and pulled him into the hallway demanding an explanation.
"Ri-right after the last push, she stopped answering them, they looked down and….the whole bed was covered in blood….so much blood" he murmured swallowing hard and shaking with worry.
"What did they say?" Max demanded urgently
"nothin', they said I had to leave" Connor growled furious at having been ousted from the room where King was in trouble.
Kitty comforted Connor explaining that they must have needed room to examine King and possibly stitch up whatever was still bleeding; Connor merely sank to the ground and held his head in his hands while his body shook with sobs. Kick was staring at the blank wall and twitching after hearing that King was in danger; Eric saw a strange haunted look enter his friends eyes did the only thing he could think of – told his dad. One look at the young man told Red all he needed to.
"these people need food and coffee, it's going to be a long night, come give me a hand" he said to Kick and when the blue haired singer didn't seem to hear him barked "on your feet soldier!" which snapped Kick out of whatever place his mind had taken him, without another word spoken between them he followed red down the hall to get them all nourishment.
It wasn't long after that, that the door opened again and a nurse came out carrying a bundle of blanket. She walked to where Connor sat and called softly to him "Mr. O'Halloran, would you like to take him?" she asked kindly
Connors tear stained face rose to look at the bundle the nurse held and slowly he reached out for it, after one look at the infants face Connor bowed his head over his son and began weeping again.
It was Max who thought to ask for news of their friend "what's happening in there? How is King?" he demanded in a strained tone
The young nurses face fell "there's a tear somewhere, they need to operate but she's lost so much blood already that they need to set up a transfusion" she explained gravely, well aware that she wasn't really supposed to be telling them what she was.
"So what's the hold up?" Max asked frantically
The nurse pursed her lips and looked around the hallway before speaking again "have you ever heard of AIDS?" she whispered, then seeing the blank looks they all shared she explained "it's a disease – a nasty one and we only just found out about it, its deadly and passes through blood amongst other ways, we had a case a few months ago where a transfusion infected a patient because we didn't know about the virus so now were in the process of testing all the blood we have on hand, the problem with your friend is that she has an uncommon blood type which we don't have much of anyway and what we do have hasn't been tested yet, now usually we'd use O- which is the universal donor, but that's rare too and the amount on hand that's been cleared as safe simply isn't enough for surgery, were on the phone with other hospitals trying to locate more but if we don't find some soon….im very sorry" she told them all earnestly.
"Who has O-?!" Max almost screamed at them all, his best friend was teetering on the brink and he would not sit idly by while she slipped away from him and the others.
Jackie and Eric shook their heads that they didn't have what King needed, Connor looked at his friend with a desolate look and also shook his head, none of them had the right type to help King it seemed. Then Steven reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, he pulled out a battered piece of paper and after glancing at it stood up.
"Where do I need to go to give her blood?" he asked the nurse flatly
"Sir I appreciate the gesture, but you haven't been cleared either and there's no use in saving her just to risk her with possible exposure to the virus, the hospital wouldn't allow it" she explained regretfully
Hyde remained calm and handed her the paper out of his wallet "these are the results of when I had a full testing done earlier this year, as you can see I am negative for this AIDS thing and I'm O-, now where do I go?" he asked again.
"I have to go ask the doctors if this is enough to use you as a donor, her next of kin might have to sign a waiver" she told them hopefully and rushed back into the room. Whatever she said must have been enough, because it was only a moment later when the doctors rushed out and said that Kings next of kin would indeed have to sign a waiver that Hyde was an acceptable donor and the hospital wouldn't be liable in the event his test results were too out of date, Max bellowed for Kick who moments later came sprinting down the hall and was caught up to speed, he signed the papers so fast his hand was a blur, then hugged Hyde tightly.
"Thank you" he whispered to his friend.
Hyde turned to follow the staff to where he would have his blood drawn, but when he did he found himself looking at Connor.
"Hyde" he said softly, unable to express how grateful he was for what he was doing to help King.
Hyde smirked confidently at his friend "I owe her a hell of a lot more than this, so don't you dare try to name that kid after me ok? Nothing is going to make 'Steven' a cool name you got it?!" he said firmly, then grasped Connors shoulder for comfort and strode down the hall to let them take as much blood as he could manage.
They watched him go, then watched as the staff called for the hall to be clear as they wheeled King out and rushed down the hall to the operating room, the flash they got of her before she was out of sight was frighteningly white, but they had faith that she was strong enough to pull through.
"What are you going to name him?" Kitty asked Connor gently as he shifted the small baby to attempt to feed him from the tiny bottle they'd provided.
"King said if it was a boy I got to pick, so long as it wasn't somethin' lame" he whispered emptily, they knew that if he lost King he would never truly recover from it – none of them would.
"What did you choose?" Max asked hoping for a distraction from his worry.
Connor looked up and got the attention of one of the nurses, he told her to get the paper work for the birth certificate and she dutifully obliged.
"his name is Maddox Maxwell O'Halloran" Connor said softly then closed his eyes while fresh tears spilled out down his face, the terrifying ex-boxer from Kerry with the Mohawk shaved in his hair and tattoo's covering most of his arms was overcome with grief and fear that he might be losing the love of his life that very moment.
Hearing that they'd chosen to name their son after him was the final straw for Max, he'd been hanging on to his calm through sheer force of will, but now it broke. With a howl of such deep sorrow that no one had ever heard anything like it, max picked up one of the chairs and destroyed it in a fit of fury. The kind nurse warned them to get Max under control before they had no choice but to call security, Kick thanked her softly then turned and full body tackled the raging Max onto the dull carpet.
"Get off me!" Max grunted from under Kick.
"Not until you get ahold of yourself Max!" Kick told him firmly.
"She could die! She could be dying right now!" Max cried out, too lost in his fear of losing King to hear reason.
Jackie could only stare at the scene and wish she could do something to help, but the only help was hearing that their friend was ok and there was no telling if or when that would happen. When it looked like the scuffle wasn't going to end of their own accord red began to stand, but stopped when Connors grief stricken face rose to look at them. Without a sound he slowly got to his feet and crossed to Jackie, a ghost of a smile crossed his face as he held out his newborn son to her.
"Go on then, I need to put a stop to this" Connor told her when she hesitated taking tiny baby Maddox.
With the utmost care Jackie took the baby and stared down at his tiny sleeping face – he looked like a red bulldog for the time being, but she was confident that he would get cuter when the trauma of being born wore off. While she was staring down at her new nephew, Connor crossed to where his friends were grappling around on the floor and hauled Max up so swiftly his eyes rolled.
"Don't imagine you are the only one that's terrified of losing her! Do her the courtesy of believing she is strong enough to live through this" Connor hissed at him commandingly.
Max stared back at Connor and the fury drained from his eyes, a choking sob escaped him as he gripped onto Connor, Kick joined them and Jackie and the Forman's felt as if they were intruding on a family moment as the three men shared the worry and pain of what losing King would mean. The four had all been through so much before Jackie had met them that outsiders would never fully understand their bond, they were a crazy peculiar family, but there was no doubt they loved each other.
They had all settled down and were silently watching the time pass; when Hyde finally made his way back to them he was a bit dizzy and a lot pale. He had insisted they take as much blood as they were legally allowed to draw from him to ensure that King had the best chance possible, the down side of that was that he was in a much weaker state then he was used to being in.
"this must be what Forman feels like" he thought curiously as the helpful nurses led him back to his friends, he was too tired to feel uncomfortable at the somber vibe he found when he sat down beside his tiny sleeping wife. He glanced around and saw that every face he recognized was etched deep with concern for what was happening with King.
Hyde thought over all the different times she had smacked some sense into him and made a silent plea for his friends wellbeing, with what little energy he had Hyde laced his fingers with Jackie's as she slept curled in the chair.
He didn't know how long had passed when a doctor in blue scrubs and an operating cap finally came to tell them something – anything – about King.
"Mr. O'Halloran?" he asked looking around for the owner of the name, Hyde watched the doctors eyes widen slightly when Connor got up to speak with him, he chuckled to himself when the memory of King telling him that nowhere in point place would hire Connor because he was too scary, she hadn't been wrong.
"Is she ok?" Connor asked desperately
"Mr. O'Halloran, Miss Macgregor had some serious tearing and internal bleeding, but we think we repaired it all. As far as we can tell, she's going to be alright" he told them with a small smile, blissfully unaware of the power his words had held to destroy them all.
Kick collapsed onto the floor in relief, Max buried his face in his hands and wept with relief, and Connor looked like he could finally breathe again and immediately asked when he could see her? They were informed that King would probably wake up in around an hour and then they could see her. Kitty had quietly watched them and allowed their grief to run its course, but now that King would be alright she swept into action, orders for clean clothes to be fetched and brought to the hospital were issued to Kick and Eric, Red and Max were sent to get food for everyone, Kitty gently took Maddox from Connor and sent him to take a shower in the room King had started out in. every single one of them was happy to let Kitty run things, and when the nurse came to tell them two hours later that King was awake and demanding they all come see her and 'bring her baby before she got unpleasant' they were all in much better control of themselves than they'd been before.
Ignoring the rules about the amount of visitors allowed they all crowded into the room to see for themselves that King was alive and well, and she was, she looked tired and pale as well as oddly deflated since the last time they'd seen her, but her blue eyes were alert and the corner of her mouth was lifted in a slight grin. Connor walked slowly to her so as not to wake their sleeping baby and it was easy to see the gleam of curiosity in Kings eyes, it was then that they all remembered that King had lost consciousness before finding out that she'd had a boy.
Connor stopped at the edge of her bed and gave her a smile that was so full of love and pride that you could almost miss the smirk that he knew something she didn't know.
"Hey love, glad your back now don't ever do that to us again" he ordered softly
"Wasn't planning on it" King spoke softly, still very weak from all she'd been through.
"I have someone here that'd love to meet you" he said and sat carefully on the edge of her bed and placed Maddox in her arms "this is our son Maddox Maxwell O'Halloran" he told King who was gazing at the tiny wrinkly baby like it was most amazing thing in the world until she looked up at Connor with a pained expression.
"So did you mean to name our baby Mad Max?" she asked archly
Connor gaped at her as the short versions of the names he'd picked for his son sank in "fucking hell!" he groaned and buried his head in Kings shoulder.
"Shh, its ok Connor, I like that movie" King comforted him and looked as though she was working hard not to laugh.